Understanding Investment, Trade and Battery Waste Management for a Globally Competitive EV

Objective. The objective of the project was to comprehend various challenges in trade, investment, and battery waste management of electric vehicles (EVs) in India and identify diverse solutions to aid India’s EV transition. It helps to fill in the crucial gap of information to ensure an effective framework in place, to then aid the process of making informed decisions for efficient policymaking.

Scope and deliverables. The project involved ICRIER producing 7 working papers, covering the Barriers to trade in complementary and enabling services, Supply, demand and investment challenges in the EV sector, The Challenge of Skill gaps in the Indian EV sector, Green Industrial Policy: An Appraisal of Three State EV Policies in Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu, Financial Viability of LIB recycling in India, Understanding the employment potential of battery recycling in India, and Waste to Wealth: Extended Producers Responsibility for effective electric vehicle battery waste management in India. Further, the project involved interaction with key stakeholders and conducting on-ground surveys to contribute towards an understanding of the current EV landscape in the country. The project identified key barriers such as charging infrastructure, supply chain concerns, and skill gaps in the EV ecosystem. At the same time, deliberating on the far end of the EV value chain, the results also focused explicitly on the effective management of EV battery waste in the course of achieving the ambitious EV objectives of the country.

Activities. Some of the key activities implemented during April 2021 to April 2022 include:

• Organisation of Stakeholder Convening on 24-25^thJune, 2021
• Organisation of a two day webinar titled “Understanding Investment, Trade, and Battery Waste Management Linkages for a Globally Competitive EV Manufacturing Sector” on 27-28 January, 2022.
• Organisation of final dissemination event held in hybrid mode at Magnolia Hall, India Habitat Centre on 29^th April 2022 at 10.00 Hrs (IST) with key government and private sector stakeholders.
• Launch of the Summary for Policymakers at the hybrid event that captured in brief, the major findings of the larger study aimed towards policy makers and technology enablers.Launch of the Summary for Policymakers at the hybrid event held at India Habitat Centre The event saw the key note address being delivered by Shri Sudhendu J. Sinha, Adviser (Infrastructure Connectivity – Transport and Electric Mobility), NITI Aayog. The panel discussions comprised of stakeholders from academia (CSE, WRI, Saahas Zero Waste, IESA), government (NITI Aayog, Invest India),  as well as the private sector (Reliance Industries, Exigo recycling, Omega Seiki Mobility, Epsilon Advanced Materials Private Limited, Development Interlinks International Pvt. Ltd, Bloomberg New Energy Finance). Dr. Deepak Mishra, ICRIER Director provided the opening remarks.